Dr Rachel Wood
DPhil. (Archaeological Science)
Senior Lecturer
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Research interests
Radiocarbon dating, Archaeological chronologies, Diagenesis of biological materials (particularly tooth enamel)
Palaeolithic archaeology, Neolithic archaeology, Australian archaeoloy
Wildlife forensics
Biography
After completing a DPhil at the University of Oxford on the radiocarbon dating of late Neanderthals and early modern humans in Iberia I moved to the ANU, and until 2015 was responsible for the preparation of samples for radiocarbon dating in the ANU radiocarbon facility. In both Iberia and many locations in Australia and South East Asia, preservation of bone collagen (the fraction of bone targeted for radiocarbon) is exceptionally poor, hampering accurate dating of human and faunal material. Her DECRA aimed to examine diagenesis of tooth enamel to determine whether it might be possible to obtain accurate dates directly on skeletal material where collagen does not survive. Radiocarbon dates on enamel are often found to be inaccurate, and this project developed a method to drastically improve the quality of age estimates on enamel using a greater understanding of how enamel degrades in the burial environment. She is now a senior lecturer, split between the School and Archaeology and Anthropology and the Research School of Earth Sciences.
Researcher's projects
Diagenesis and radiocarbon dating of tooth enamel
The Bell Beaker Phenomenon in Iberia
The use of radiocarbon dating in pangolin conservation
Available student projects
Please contact me for a current list of student projects, or potential projects which could be developed. I am interested in a wide range of subject areas which involve radiocarbon, from archaeology to palaeoenvironment to ecology, both in terms of method development and application.
Past student projects
Stephanie August (MSc. Archaeological Science): Enamel diagenesis and its implication for radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis: A novel application of dental histology
Katherine Dunn (Hons.): The turnover of the human petrous bone
Magdalena Schmid (PhD, University of Iceland): Archaeological applications of radiocarbon chronologies and statistical models: dating the Viking Age Settlement of Iceland (Landnám)
Andrey Fleury (MSc. Archaeological Science): The important of grain size for radiocarbon dating of tooth enamel
Maddie Llewellin (MSc. Archaeological Science): Investigating a screening method for detecting whether charcoal will survive the radiocarbon dating ABA pretreatment protocol.
Publications
- Verpoorte, A, Cosgrove, R, Wood, R et al 2019, 'Improving the chronological framework for Laugerie-Haute Ouest (Dordogne, France)', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 23, pp. 574-582.
- Iriarte-Chiapusso, M, Wood, R & Buruaga, A 2019, 'Arrillor cave (Basque Country, northern Iberian Penisula). Chronological, palaeo-environmental and cultural notes on a long Mousterian sequence', Quaternary International, vol. 508, pp. 107-115.
- Schmid, M, Wood, R, Newton, A et al 2019, 'Enhancing radiocarbon chronologies of colonization: Chronometric hygiene revisited', Radiocarbon, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 629-647.
- James, H, Willmes, M, Courtaud, P et al 2019, 'Who's been using my burial mound? Radiocarbon dating and isotopic tracing of human diet and mobility at the collective burial site, Le Tumulus des Sables, southwest France', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 24, pp. 955-966.
- O'Regan, G, Petchey, F, Wood, R et al 2019, 'Dating South Island MÄ?ori rock art: Pigment and pitfalls', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 24, pp. 132-141.
- Pawlik, A, Crozier, R, Fuentes, R et al 2019, 'Burial traditions in early Mid-Holocene Island Southeast Asia: New evidence from Bubog-1, Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental', Antiquity, vol. 93, no. 370, pp. 901-918.
- Samper Carro, S, Gilbert, F, Bulbeck, F et al 2019, 'Somewhere beyond the sea: Human cranial remains from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Alor Island, Indonesia) provide insights on Late Pleistocene peopling of Island Southeast Asia', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 134, pp. 1-16.
- Oxenham, M, Trinh, H, Willis, A et al 2018, 'Between foraging and farming: Strategic responses to the Holocene Thermal Maximum in Southeast Asia', Antiquity, vol. 92, no. 364, pp. 940-957.
- Brumm, A, Hakim, B, Ramli, M et al 2018, 'A reassessment of the early archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a Late Pleistocene rock-shelter site on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 1-43.
- Smith, T, Austin, C, Green, D et al 2018, 'Wintertime stress, nursing, and lead exposure in Neanderthal children', Science Advances, vol. 4, no. 10, pp. 9pp.
- Long, K, Wood, R, Williams, I et al 2018, 'Fish otolith microchemistry: Snapshots of lake conditions during early human occupation of Lake Mungo, Australia', Quaternary International, vol. 463, no. A, pp. 29-43.
- Schmid, M, Dugmore, A, Foresta, L et al 2018, 'How 14C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia', Quaternary Geochronology, vol. 48, pp. 64-71pp.
- Hashemi, N, Wood, R & Louys, J 2018, 'Faunal remains and environments from the Bronze age of Kalehkoob, Lut Desert, eastern Iran', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 16, pp. 139-147pp.
- Blong, R, Fallon, S, Wood, R et al 2018, 'Significance and timing of the mid-17th-century eruption of Long Island, Papua New Guinea', Holocene, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 529-544pp.
- Maloney, T, O'Connor, S, Wood, R et al 2018, 'Carpenters Gap 1: A 47,000 year old record of indigenous adaption and innovation', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 191, pp. 204-228pp.
- Nejman, L, Kucera, L, Skrdla, P et al 2018, '2016 excavation of basal layers at Pod Hradem Cave and the finding of shell and amber', Prehled vyzkumu, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 9 - 16.
- Nejman, L, Lisa, L, Dolakova, N et al 2018, 'Cave deposits as a sedimentary trap for the Marine Isotope Stage 3 environmental record: The case study of Pod Hradem, Czech Republic', Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 497, no. 2018, pp. 201 - 217.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M, Samper Carro, S et al 2017, 'Fishing in life and death: Pleistocene fish-hooks from a burial context on Alor Island, Indonesia', Antiquity, vol. 91, no. 360, pp. 1451-1468pp.
- Louys, J, Kealy, S, O'Connor, S et al 2017, 'Differential preservation of vertebrates in Southeast Asian caves', International Journal of Speleology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 379-408.
- Wood, R 2017, 'Comments on the chronology of Madjedbebe', Australian Archaeology, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 172-174pp.
- Nejman, L, Wood, R, Wright, D et al 2017, 'Hominid visitation of the Moravian Karst during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition: New results from Pod Hradem Cave (Czech Republic)', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 108, pp. 131-146.
- Goude, G, Willmes, M, Wood, R et al 2017, 'New insights into Mesolithic human diet in the Mediterranean from stable isotope analysis: The sites of Campu Stefanu and Torre d'Aquila, Corsica', International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 707-714.
- Whitau, R, Balme, J, O'Connor, S et al 2017, 'Wood charcoal analysis at Riwi cave, Gooniyandi country, Western Australia', Quaternary International, vol. 457, pp. 140-154.
- Piper, P, Nguyen, K, Tran, T et al 2017, 'The Neolithic settlement of Loc Giang on the Vam Co Dong River, southern Vietnam and its broader regional context', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 10, pp. 32-47pp.
- Zilhao, J, Ajas, A, Badal, E et al 2016, 'Cueva Antón: A multi-proxy MIS 3 to MIS 5a paleoenvironmental record for SE Iberia', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 146, pp. 251-273pp.
- Mirazon Lahr, M, Rivera, F, Power, R et al 2016, 'Inter-group violence among early Holocene hunter-gatherers of West Turkana, Kenya', Nature, vol. 529, no. 7586, pp. 394-398.
- Wood, R, De Quiros, F, MaÃllo-Fernandez, J et al 2016, 'El Castillo (Cantabria, northern Iberia) and the Transitional Aurignacian: Using radiocarbon dating to assess site taphonomy', Quaternary International, pp. 1-15.
- Wood, R, Jacobs, Z, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2016, 'Towards an accurate and precise chronology for the colonization of Australia: The example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 25pp.
- Westaway, M, Williams, D, Wright, R et al 2016, 'The death of Kaakutja: A case of peri-mortem weapon trauma in an Aboriginal man from north-western New South Wales, Australia', Antiquity, vol. 90, no. 353, pp. 1318-1333.
- Bulbeck, F, Aziz, F, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Mortuary caves and the dammar trade in the Towuti-Routa region, Sulawesi, in an Island southeast Asian context [TO BE DELETED]', Asian Perspectives, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 148-183.
- Bulbeck, F, Arifin Aziz, F, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Mortuary caves and the dammar trade in the Towuti-Routa region, Sulawesi, in an Island southeast Asian context', Asian Perspectives, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 148-183pp.
- Mirazon Lahr, M, Rivera, F, Power, R et al 2016, 'Mirazón Lahr et al. reply', Nature, vol. 539, no. 7630, pp. E10-E11.
- Wood, R, Duval, M, Huong, N, Piper, P.J et al 2016, 'The effect of grain size on carbonate contaminant removal from tooth enamel: Towards an improved pretreatment for radiocarbon dating', Quaternary Geochronology, vol. 36, pp. 174-187.
- Pawlik, A, Piper, P, Wood, R et al 2015, 'Shell tool technology in Island Southeast Asia: an early Middle Holocene Tridacna adze from Ilin Island, Mindoro, Philippines', Antiquity, vol. 89, no. 344, pp. 292-308.
- Proske, U, Wood, R, Fallon, S et al 2015, 'Use of heavy liquid density separation to remove pyrite from sediment samples for radiocarbon dating', Quaternary Geochronology, vol. 25, pp. 66-71.
- Gillespie, R, Wood, R, Fallon, S et al 2015, 'New C-14 dates for Spring Creek and Mowbray Swamp megafauna: XAD-2 processing', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 43-48.
- Miguel Angel, F, Cubas, M & Wood, R 2015, 'The first farmers in Cantabrian Spain: Contribution of numerical chronology to understand an historical process', Quaternary International, vol. 364, pp. 153-161.
- Grammar, G, Fallon, S, Izzo, C et al 2015, 'Investigating bomb radiocarbon transport in the southern Pacific Ocean with otolith radiocarbon', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 424, pp. 59-68.
- Wood, R 2015, 'From revolution to convention: the past, present and future of radiocarbon dating', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 56, pp. 61-72.
- Swift, J, Cupper, M, Greig, A et al 2015, 'Skeletal arsenic of the pre-Columbian population of Caleta Vitor, northern Chile', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 58, pp. 31-45.
- Oxenham, M, Piper, P, Bellwood, P et al 2015, 'Emergence and diversification of the neolithic in Southern Vietnam: insights from coastal Rach Nui', Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 309-338.
- Maloney, T, Wood, R, O'Connor, S et al 2015, 'Direct dating of resin hafted point technology in Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 81, no. 81, pp. 35-43.
- Wasef, S, Wood, R, El Merghani, S et al 2015, 'Radiocarbon dating of Sacred Ibis mummies from ancient Egypt', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 4, pp. 355-361.
- Calo, A, Prasetyo, B, Bellwood, P, Lankton, JW, Gratuze, B, Pryce, TO, Reinecke, A, Leusch, V, Schenk, H, Wood, R, Bawono, RA, Gede, IDK, Citha Yuliati, NLK, Fenner, J, Reepmeyer, C, Castillo, C, Carter, AK, 2015, 'Sembiran and Pacung on the north coast of Bali: a strategic crossroads for early trans-Asiatic exchange', Antiquity, vol. 89, no. 344, pp. 378-396.
- Higham, T, Douka, K, Wood, R et al 2014, 'The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance', Nature, vol. 512, no. 7514, pp. 306-309.
- Douka, K, Higham, T, Wood, R et al 2014, 'On the chronology of the Uluzzian', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 1-13.
- Wright, D, Nejman, L, d'Errico, F et al 2014, 'An Early Upper Palaeolithic decorated bone tubular rod from Pod Hradem Cave, Czech Republic', Antiquity, vol. 88, no. 339, pp. 30-46.
- O'Connor, S, Maloney, T, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2014, 'Occupation at Carpenters Gap 3, Windjana Gorge, Kimberley, Western Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 78, no. 78, pp. 10-23.
- Alvarez-Fernandez, E, Carriol, R, Jorda, J et al 2014, 'Occurrence of whale barnacles in Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Spain): Indirect evidence of whale consumption by humans in the Upper Magdalenian', Quaternary International, vol. 337, pp. 163-169.
- Long, K., Stern, N., Williams, I., et al 2014, 'Fish otolith geochemistry, environmental conditions and human occupation at Lake Mungo, Australia', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 88, pp. 82-95.
- Wood, R, Arrizabalaga, A, Camps, M et al 2014, 'The chronology of the earliest Upper Palaeolithic in northern Iberia: New insights from L'Arbreda, Labeko Koba and La Vina', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 91-109.
- Storm, P, Wood, R, Stringer, C et al 2013, 'U-series and radiocarbon analyses of human and faunal remains from Wajak, Indonesia', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 64, no. 5, pp. 356-365.
- Wood, R, Higham, T, de Torres, T et al 2013, 'A new date for the Neanderthals from el sidron cave (Asturias, Northern Spain)', Archaeometry, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 148-158.
- Wood, R, Barroso-Ruiz, C, Caparros, M et al 2013, 'Radiocarbon dating casts doubt on the late chronology of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in southern Iberia', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 110, no. 8, pp. 2781-2786.
- Higham, T, Wood, R, Moreau, L et al 2013, 'Comments on 'Human climate interaction during the early Upper Paleolithic: Testing the hypothesis of an adaptive shift between the Proto-Aurignacian and the Early Aurignacian' by Banks et al.', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 65, no. 6, pp. 806-809.
- Kehl, M, Burow, C, Hilgers, A et al 2013, 'Late Neanderthals at Jarama VI (central Iberia)?', Quaternary Research, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 218-234.
- Wood, R, Higham, T, Buzilhova, A et al 2013, 'Freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effects at the burial ground of Minino, northwest Russia', Radiocarbon, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 163-177.
- Wood, R, Barroso-Ruiz, C, Caparros, M et al 2013, 'Reply to de la Pena: Radiocarbon dating and the paleoenvironmental record of Carihuela', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 110, no. 23, pp. E2087-E2087.
- Nejman, L, Wright, D, Lisa, L et al 2013, 'Hominids and palaeoenvironments in the Moravian Karst during Marine Isotope Stage 3: new excavations in Pod Hradem Cave, Czech Republic', Antiquity, vol. 87, no. 337, pp. 1-4.
- Jorda Pardo, J, Menendez Fernandez, M, Gonzalez, P et al 2013, 'Geoarchaeology and chronostratigraphy of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition at the cave of La Guelga (Cangas de Onis, Asturias, Spain)', in Andreas Pastoors and Bärbel Auffermann (ed.), Pleistocene foragers: their culture and environment: Festschrift in Honour of Gerd-Christian Weniger for His Sixtieth Birthday, Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germay.
- Nejman, L., D. Wright, L. Lisá, , N. Doláková, I. Horácek, J. Novák, R. Wood, M. Pacher, S. Sázelová, M. Holub, A. Prichystal, M. Nývltová-Fišáková, A. Bajer. 2013. Hominids and Palaeoenvironments in the Moravian Karst during Marine Isotope Stage 3: New Excavations at Pod Hradem Cave, Czech Republic. Antiquity 87(337). http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/nejman337/
- Higham, T, Bronk Ramsey, C, Basell, L et al 2012, 'Radiocarbon dating & Bayesian modelling from the Grotte du Renne & a Neanderthal origin for the Chatelperronian', Before Farming: The Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers, vol. -, no. 3, pp. 1-6.
- Wood, R, Douka, K, Boscato, P et al 2012, 'Testing the ABOx-SC method: Dating known-age charcoals associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite', Quaternary Geochronology, vol. 9, pp. 16-26.
- Brock, F, Wood, R, Higham, T et al 2012, 'RELIABILITY OF NITROGEN CONTENT (%N) AND CARBON:NITROGEN ATOMIC RATIOS (C:N) AS INDICATORS OF COLLAGEN PRESERVATION SUITABLE FOR RADIOCARBON DATING', Radiocarbon, vol. 54, no. 3-4, pp. 879-886.
- Maroto, J, Vaquero, M, Arrizabalaga, A et al 2012, 'Current issues in late Middle Palaeolithic chronology: New assessments from Northern Iberia', Quaternary International, vol. 247, pp. 15-25.
- Higham, T, Basell, L, Jacobi, R et al 2012, 'Testing models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music: The radiocarbon chronology of Geissenklosterle', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 62, no. 6, pp. 664-676.
- Higham, T, Brock, F, Bronk Ramsey, C et al 2011, 'Chronology of the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France: a response to Zilhao et al', Before Farming: The Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers, no. 3, pp. 1-5.
- Bird, M, Charville-Mort, P, Ascough, P et al 2010, 'Assessment of oxygen plasma ashing as a pre-treatment for radiocarbon dating', Quaternary Geochronology, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 435-442.
- Wood, R, Bronk Ramsey, C & Higham, T 2010, 'Refining background corrections for radiocarbon dating of bone collagen at ORAU', Radiocarbon, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 600-611.
- Ascough, P, Bird, M, Meredith, W et al 2010, 'Hydropyrolysis: Implications for radiocarbon pretreatment and characterization of black carbon', Radiocarbon, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 1336-1350.
- Higham, T, Warren, R, Belinskij, A et al 2010, 'Radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis, and Diet-derived offsets in 14C ages from the Klin-yar site, Russian North Caucasus', Radiocarbon, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 653-670.
- Zilhao, J, Angelucci, D, Badal, E et al 2010, 'Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 107, no. 3, pp. 1023-1028.
- Higham, T, Jacobi, R, Julien, M et al 2010, 'Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Chatelperronian', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 107, no. 47, pp. 20234-20239.
- Higham, T, Brock, F, Peresani, M et al 2009, 'Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 28, no. 13-14, pp. 1257-1267.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Beyond migration and diffusion: The prehistoric mobility of people & ideas (Secondary Investigator)
- Radiocarbon dating enamel and the first domestic pigs in South East Asia (Primary Investigator)
